The Letual Gift Card: From Disappointment to Freakout to an Unexpected Win
add_circle Pros
- The pink‑gold packaging looks sleek and actually feels like a proper gift.
- The magnetic stripe zips through any Letual register.
- Works online and in‑store, so you’ve got options.
- Letual’s frequent sales stretch the card’s value beyond the printed amount.
- No expiration date in sight, so you can take your time.
- Customer support is quick to confirm the balance if you’re unsure.
- It’s a flexible gift – you pick what you actually want.
remove_circle Cons
- No printed amount, so you’re left guessing or having to ask staff.
- Shows up without an envelope, which feels a bit sloppy.
- Even with discounts, Letual’s prices stay higher than big marketplaces.
- The website lags a lot, making online redemption a pain.
- Bend or dirty the stripe and it can stop working.
- You can only spend it at Letual, so it’s not universal.
- Can’t stack it with other promos.
- The plastic feels thin and the design cheap‑looking.
Gallery
Editor's Summary
I ended up with a Letual gift card hidden inside a snazzy wine‑box that showed up during our office Secret Santa. The pink‑gold wrapping is cute enough to feel like a real present, but there’s no number on it, so I just assumed it hit the 1,000‑ruble minimum that the game forces. The magnetic stripe scans instantly at any Letual checkout, but trying to use it online is a different story – the site crawls like it’s stuck in rush hour. Even with the lag, I managed to cash in on a few Letual sales and got more bang for the buck than I expected, turning what started as a disappointment into a pretty decent win.
Specifications
Every New Year's at the office we do a Secret Santa. The only rule is the gift has to be at least 1,000 rubles. Last year I got a bottle of wine in a fancy box. I was a little disappointed—I was hoping for something more memorable. Inside the box, though, was a Letual gift certificate. I'm not a big fan of that chain; their prices are steep, and even with huge discounts their stuff usually costs more than it does on the big marketplaces.
The certificate came without an envelope (maybe the giver tossed it out) and was wrapped in pink‑gold colors.
There was no amount printed on the card, so I guessed it was the 1,000‑ruble minimum and felt let down again. The back has a magnetic stripe for in‑store checkout, the certificate number, and a protective layer that hides the PIN. It also has a QR code. I expected it to lead to the online store, but it just repeats the certificate number—a tool for the cashier, not a shortcut for the shopper.
The card sat in my drawer for a year because I didn’t need anything from Letual. Then my favorite Black Afgano ran out, and Letual started letting a bunch of bonus points pile up. I thought it was finally time to use the certificate. I chose a perfume, clicked to apply my bonuses, went to checkout and… the total showed up with no bonuses applied. I double‑checked everything—the product was on promotion, I’d followed the steps—but the points just wouldn’t deduct. I got frustrated, abandoned the cart, and the bonuses eventually expired while the money stayed untouched.
A couple of months later I started worrying the certificate would expire, so I finally tried to buy something with it. Letual even added an extra 1,000 bonus points. I put the same perfume in the basket, tried the bonuses again, and guess what? Still nothing. I messaged customer support, half‑ready to throw in the towel. The agent paused, ran a check, and told me the problem was that my account was missing my gender. "Gender, Karl!" she said. Because that detail was blank, the bonuses couldn’t be activated. The account never gave me any warning—no red banner, no pop‑up, nothing. I filled in the gender field, and boom—the bonuses worked.
Back to the order. I entered the gift certificate, scratched off the protective layer on the back, typed in the numbers… and found out the certificate was actually worth 2,500 rubles! That means I could have chosen a 5,000‑ruble product earlier, used my bonuses and the certificate together, and paid nothing extra. If I’d known the real value sooner, I would have asked support why the bonuses weren’t applying in the first place.
During checkout the site kept freezing and wouldn’t let me finish the order. I’m guessing it was the January rush—everyone was trying to buy at the same time.
In the end I paid 690 rubles for two perfume bottles (Pandora №21 and Dilis) that originally cost 4,929 rubles. On Ozon the same pair would have been about 3,500 rubles. If it weren’t for the certificate, I’d have just bought them on Ozon.
The order was delivered for free by a courier the next day.
On top of that, Letual credited me with 1,596 bonus points for the purchase, which I later used on a shampoo and conditioner from Estelle, two tubes of the best mascara on the planet (Telescope), and a lip gloss.
Do they sell fakes at Letual? I can’t say for sure, but the "Honest Sign" program supposedly guarantees authenticity.
One thing that always bugged me was the store receipts—they list the scents without any names. No idea why.
Would I recommend a Letual certificate as a gift? Probably not—it creates way too many headaches for the recipient. As a plain certificate? Sure, if you’re not looking for anything fancy. Hope my ramble was helpful—wishing everyone beauty and eternal youth 😊
